Exercise Cuts Later CV Risk in Hodgkin's Lymphoma Survivors

(HealthDay News) — Exercise may lower the risk of treatment-related cardiovascular events in adult survivors of childhood Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to research published online October 13 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Lee W. Jones, PhD, of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and colleagues used questionnaires to evaluate exercise behavior and occurrence of cardiovascular events in 1,187 adult survivors (median age, 31.2 years) of childhood Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The researchers found, over a median follow-up of 11.9 years (range, 1.7–14.3 years), that the cumulative incidence of any cardiovascular event at 10 years was higher among cancer survivors reporting zero metabolic equivalent (MET) hours/week−1 of vigorous-intensity exercise (12.2%) than those reporting ≥9 MET hours/week−1 (5.2%). Compared with cancer survivors reporting zero MET hours/week−1, the adjusted rate ratio for any cardiovascular event was 0.87 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56–1.34) for those reporting three to six MET hours/week−1, 0.45 (95% CI, 0.26–0.8) for those reporting 9–12 MET hours/week−1, and 0.47 (95% CI, 0.23–0.95) for those reporting 15–21 MET hours/week−1. Compared with cancer survivors who did not meet the guidelines for ≥9 MET hours/week−1 of vigorous-intensity exercise, those who met the guidelines had a 51% reduction in the risk of any cardiovascular event.

"Vigorous exercise was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events in a dose-dependent manner independent of cardiovascular risk profile and treatment in survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma," the authors write.